Control of optical transmission through metals perforated with subwavelength hole arrays

The transmission spectrum of a metal that is perforated with a periodic array of subwavelength holes exhibits well-defined maxima and minima resulting from, respectively, a transmission enhancement by surface plasmons and Wood's anomaly, a diffraction effect. These features occur at wavelengths determined by the geometry of the hole arrays, the refractive index of the adjacent medium, and the angle of incidence. We demonstrate control of the transmission through variation of these parameters and show that perforated metal films may form a novel basis for electro-optic devices such as flat-panel displays, spatial light modulators, and tunable optical filters. (C) 1999 Optical Society of America. OCIS codes: 240.6680, 050.0050, 230.2090, 230.6120.